STAR attraction at Rochdale Food & Drink Festival is invariably Andrew Nutter, though for this year’s event on Saturday, March 16 he has a rival at the Town Hall’s main stage in Dean Edwards, a Masterchef finalist from back in 2006 and, apparently, ‘a firm favourite on ITV's Lorraine with his family-friendly recipes’.
We were struck by another, more exotic name debuting in the cookery demo list – Adolfus Lewis. So much so that we trekked out to the new Littleborough micro-craft beer and gastropub, where he has been plying his trade since it opened in November.
Hare on The Hill is the latest addition to Ben Boothman’s Rochdale pub empire, which also encompasses The Flying Horse Hotel, next to the Town Hall, and another recent addition, the award-winning Baum in the Toad Lane conservation area.
The Hare is in a quite different location, a smart transformation on the side of the former Caldermoor pub, now converted into ‘Aphrodite Hair Beauty Relaxation’. Out the back it benefits from what was the Caldermoor’s spacious beer garden; inside, as you’d expect, the tight space is dominated by a savvy cask and craft keg beer offering (Vocation, Tiny Rebel Osset, Blackedge and more).
Affable Adolfus works in the tiny kitchen behind the bar, the current menu focusing on snacks and pub classics. Tossing up between locally made sausage with mustard mash and Thai green curry, we went for the latter, at £10, and was delighted with the freshness of chicken and sauce (on the mild side but it didn’t feel out of a jar).
We'd been hoping for jerk chicken, which he’ll be cooking at the food festival in a joint demo with Austin Hopley of The Baum. Early days here. Adolfus, 25 years a chef, told me he hoped to expand the Hare menu to feature dishes that reflected his family’s roots in Barbados. And that garden will be perfect for barbecue come summer.
Dog and chid friendly with a hugely welcoming vibe, this must be the best addition to the Littleborough/Rochdale scene in many years.
Hare On The Hill, 132 Hare Hill Road, Littleborough, OL15 9HL. 01706 538523.
Rochdale Food & Drink Festival. Saturday, Mar 15, 11am-8pm. The Esplanade, Rochdale, OL16 1AB. Free.
